[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32967-32968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14022]



[[Page 32967]]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.326H]


Proposed Extensions and Waivers: National Early Childhood 
Technical Assistance Center

AGENCY: Office of Special Education Programs, Office of Special 
Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed extension of project period and waiver for 
the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in the 
Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), in 34 
CFR 75.250 and 75.261(a) and (c), respectively, that generally prohibit 
project periods exceeding five years and extensions of project periods 
involving the obligation of additional Federal funds. This extension of 
project period and waiver would enable the currently funded project to 
receive funding from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 7, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed extension of 
project period and waiver to Julia Martin Eile, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 4056, Potomac Center Plaza 
(PCP), Washington, DC 20202-2600.
    If you prefer to send your comments by e-mail, use the following 
address: [email protected]. You must include the phrase 
``proposed extension of project period and waiver'' in the subject line 
of your message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Martin Eile at the address 
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Telephone: (202) 245-
7431. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call 
the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll-free, at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in this section.

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed extension 
of project period and waiver.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this proposed extension of project period and waiver in 
room 4056, PCP, 550 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours 
of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday 
of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed extension of project period and 
waiver. If you want to schedule an appointment for this type of aid, 
please contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Background

    On April 28, 2006, the Department published a notice in the Federal 
Register (71 FR 25163) inviting applications for new awards for fiscal 
year (FY) 2006 for a National Early Childhood Technical Assistance 
Center (NECTAC). The purpose of the NECTAC, which was funded under the 
Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results 
for Children with Disabilities (TA&D) program, authorized under section 
663 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is to 
ensure that eligible infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities 
(ages birth through five years) receive, as appropriate, services under 
Parts B and C of the IDEA that ultimately improve their developmental 
and early learning outcomes. Another purpose of the NECTAC is to ensure 
that the families of eligible infants, toddlers, and children receiving 
services under Part C of the IDEA receive services necessary to enhance 
families' capacity to meet the developmental needs of their infant, 
toddler, or child.
    Based on the 2006 notice inviting applications, the Department made 
one award for a period of 60 months to the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill to carry out the activities of the NECTAC.
    Currently, the NECTAC focuses on providing technical assistance to 
strengthen State and local early childhood systems and improve outcomes 
for infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities and families of 
infants, toddlers, and children receiving services under Part C of the 
IDEA.
    The NECTAC's current project period is scheduled to end on 
September 30, 2011. At the current time, we do not believe it would be 
in the public interest to hold a new competition under this program for 
a new NECTAC. An extension of the current grantee's project will align 
the end of the current NECTAC project period with the expiration of the 
project period for the Technical Assistance Center on Social-Emotional 
Intervention for Young Children (CFDA No. 84.326B) and allow for the 
Department to develop a strategic and better coordinated approach to 
early childhood special education technical assistance without there 
being a lapse in the provision of technical assistance services 
currently provided by the NECTAC. For these reasons, the Secretary 
proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.250, which prohibit 
project periods exceeding five years, and the requirements in 34 CFR 
75.261(a) and (c), which limit the extension of a project period if the 
extension involves the obligation of additional Federal funds, and 
issue a continuation award in the amount of $3,000,000 to the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (H326H060005) for an 
additional twelve-month period.
    Waiving these regulations and issuing this continuation award would 
ensure that technical assistance is available to strengthen State and 
local early childhood systems and improve outcomes for infants, 
toddlers, and children with disabilities and families of infants, 
toddlers, and children receiving services under Part C of the IDEA.
    With this proposed extension of project period and waiver, the 
NECTAC would conduct the following activities during FY 2012:
    (a) Develop products and services to respond to State needs 
prioritized on the basis of results of current needs-analyses and 
syntheses.
    (b) Provide coordinated individualized and multi-State technical 
assistance services to address high-priority needs.
    (c) Support State-specific technical assistance efforts specified 
by the Department's Office of Special Education Programs.
    (d) Coordinate with other relevant national and State-level 
technical assistance efforts.
    (e) Disseminate documents to a wide audience, including State and 
local directors of special education.
    (f) Maintain the NECTAC's Web site.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that this proposed extension of project 
period and waiver would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial

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number of small entities. The entities that would be affected are the 
current grantee serving as the NECTAC and any other potential 
applicant.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This proposed extension of project period and waiver does not 
contain any information collection requirements.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order 
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of 
the Executive order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a 
strengthened federalism. The Executive order relies on processes 
developed by State and local governments for coordination and review of 
proposed Federal financial assistance. This document provides early 
notification of our specific plans and actions for this program.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free 
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the 
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System 
at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, 
as well as all other documents of this Department published in the 
Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 2, 2011.
Alexa Posny,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
[FR Doc. 2011-14022 Filed 6-6-11; 8:45 am]
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